A twist on political labels

My wife and I are part-time RINOs. Come primary time, we switch our political “non-affiliated” status to “Republican” so we can vote for responsible, more traditionally conservative Republicans than currently make up the county Republican Central Committee.

There are growing numbers of part-time RINOs because that’s the only game we can play if we want common-sense Republicans to win the primary. 

Speaking of labels, RINO might be twisted around to fit the members of the BCRCC also. Current BCRCC strategies suggest its members have veered far enough away from traditional, conservative Republican principles that it might be fair to call them RINOs too. Three of the many traditional GOP principles might illustrate my point:

1. Freedom for all persons, not just those who can pass any kind of “political purity” test.

2. Limited government when it comes to decisions on personal matters — like how we live, reproduce, love and worship. County and state Republicans seem to favor imposing rules that deny limited government.

3. Quality public education is a long-valued Republican principle, but not in the Idaho Legislature.

We support responsible representation, so we support Mark Sauter (House) and Jim Woodward (Senate). At primary time, part-time RINOs, let’s vote!

PAUL GRAVES

Sandpoint